One Tree Hill was a young-adult drama that ran from 2003 to 2009. Unlike some other shows of the similar genre like Gilmore Girls, this one hasn’t lasted as long as you’d think in memory. It might be because we haven’t heard any revival buzz, unlike many other TV shows whose revivals have become a reality. Regardless, in its heyday, One Tree Hill was one of the most talked-about shows out there. Its popularity mainly stemmed from the fact that it had two leads who were exceptionally handsome. The main one was Chad Michael Murray, whose stardom rocketed when One Tree Hill took off.

His character, Lucas Scott, was the perfect heartthrob because of his brooding nature. Around the time One Tree Hill was new onscreen, you couldn’t go to any teen social gathering without hearing girls squeal about how cute Lucas was and how much they hated Nathan Scott for tormenting him. It might be hard to imagine now, but those were the times when shows like this were at their most popular.

Lucas was seen as the ultimate good guy what with him always having to overcome the odds to taste success. The character had a very sad background and he always had to claw for his achievements rather than have life take it easy on him. Still, Lucas did have his flaws and we’re here to remind you of them in case you’ve been distracted by that handsome face.

Here are 20 Things Wrong With Lucas Scott We All Choose To Ignore.

Dating his brother's ex-girlfriend

When the show started out Peyton, Lucas’ constant love interest throughout the show, hadn’t been with him. Instead, Peyton’s boyfriend had been Lucas’ younger brother Nathan. At that time, there were a lot of lingering stares from both Peyton and Lucas toward each other and it was clear they were into each other.

However, despite Peyton leaving Nathan and then getting together with Lucas, nothing can erase the fact that she used to be her brother-in-law’s ex-girlfriend. Not exactly something to tell the kids.

His wife was first physically involved with his brother than him

It’s pretty gross when you and your brother have been physically involved with the same woman, but it’s even weirder when one of the brothers ends up marrying a woman like this.

This is what happened for Lucas and Nathan as the latter was actually the first person Lucas’ future wife was ever intimate with. So, she has actually done it with a person whose relationship to her is that of a brother-in-law. Yikes! Even though Nathan and Lucas became close later on, this is a very weird thing to share.

Chad Michael Murray was supposed to portray the bad boy

You might not remember or know it, but Chad Michael Murray had first tasted screen success from Gilmore Girls. On that show, he’d been the foil to Jared Padalecki’s Dean, but exited after he got a chance on One Tree Hill as the lead character.

As was revealed in the show’s documentary called Building a Winning Team: The Making of One Tree Hill, Chad wasn’t interested in playing the bad boy, as was originally planned. He’d been associated with that image due to his character on Gilmore Girls, and was looking forward to portraying a good guy instead.

He has abandonment issues

Part of Lucas’ characterization stems from the fact that he feels he’s an unwanted child. His father didn’t give a care about him when Lucas was little and left him and his mother to marry Deb Lee, who was Nathan’s mother.

Lucas would hold this abandonment to heart and this would shape his personality. His resentment for being abandoned never went away either and he never forgave his father for it. Lucas was raised in a manner that would seem as if his father had passed away, but it was worse as his father was still in town but never bothered to have a relationship with his son.

The actor leaving the show caused storylines to change

Back in 2009, when it was revealed that Lucas would leave the show, there was a lot of talk about whether One Tree Hill could continue. After all, up until that point the show had circled around him.

It’s not a complete certainty what made Chad Michael Murray quit the role, but had he remained on the show it’s very obvious that One Tree Hill would be nothing like what it became starting from the show’s seventh season. It’s more than likely that Lucas and Peyton’s relationship would’ve been further tested rather than the ending they received.

He's extremely introverted

It was due to his abandonment at a young age and the issues that arose with them that Lucas became highly introverted in his teenage years. He was known as the lonely, brooding half-brother to the more explosive Nathan in school. This introversion was a defining trait of Lucas and his demeanor reflected it.

But it wasn’t all bad as his introverted nature was the reason why Peyton took an interest in him; she was attracted to the quiet and mysterious nature Lucas presented and couldn’t resist knowing more.

Chad Murray felt he connected to the character

Actors look to get into the skin of their characters to portray them adequately and leave no stone unturned. Some actors don’t need a lot of research because their characters have experiences they themselves have gone through. According to Chad Michael Murray, as stated in One Tree Hunks, the reason he was able to connect with Lucas was because he too shared similar abandonment issues.

Chad had been abandoned by his mother at a young age while Lucas by his father, so portraying that abandonment onscreen, unfortunately, came naturally for him.

Unlike Lucas, Chad Murray didn't know how to play basketball

Basketball is so synonymous with One Tree Hill that if you go to the official Wiki page for the show, the cursor is in the shape of a basketball. So, needless to say, having the talent to play basketball was important for the actors on the show.

This was a little snag for Chad because he didn’t know how to play the game. As stated in the documentary Building a Winning Team: The Making of One Tree Hill, Chad required a coach of his own just so he could master playing basketball.

The love triangle with Peyton and Brooke

When you’re a good guy, you don’t go around messing with the heads of two women and make them fall in love you at the same time. But this is exactly what Lucas did on One Tree Hill. He had a famous love triangle with Peyton and Brooke, which lasted throughout his time on the show.

What’s worse is that Lucas’ love triangle with these women was done even with the knowledge that the two were supposed to be close friends; he played a hand in destroying a friendship.

The love triangle was used with the endgame in mind

The love triangle became the main talking point for One Tree Hill and fans tuned in to watch just that. It was the hook the show needed to have a dedicated audience, so we were left in the dark whether Lucas would go with either Brooke or Peyton. As it turned out, creator Mark Schwann had already decided that Peyton and Lucas would be the endgame.

In an interview when the show was in its fourth season, Schwann said as much that Lucas and Peyton were always meant to be. We now know he meant it literally and this had been a spoiler all along.

His genetic heart disease

Up until now, we’ve mostly covered stuff that is wrong with Lucas personality wise or something that linked to the actor, now we’ll point out the thing that was literally wrong with him, physically speaking.

Lucas had a heart condition and this was used to further his characterization. Why this is something people ignore is because this condition shouldn’t be thought as something that weakened him, rather it is something that should be viewed as a strength that he was able to live despite having this problem.

The actor was much older than the character

“Dawson Casting” – the trope of casting actors who are far older than the characters they’re portraying – was in full swing in the 2000s when it came it high school stories. In this manner, Lucas was nowhere near the age of Chad Michael Murray when he began playing the role.

In 2003, Chad was 22-years-old compared to the 16-year-old Lucas. Chad was of the age someone would graduate college, yet Lucas wasn’t even in the final year of high school still. The actor never even looked young enough to be a high schooler, yet we’re supposed to believe he was.

He had a rivalry with his own brother

The dynamic of One Tree Hill was supposed to be how Lucas and Nathan were at odds. Of course, later on, Nathan became the star of the show and Lucas left, around which time they had gotten close, but when the show began these two couldn’t stand each other.

It was to such a degree that Nathan and his cohorts took Lucas and threw him into a ditch, an act that was endorsed by their father! This was a pretty terrible situation to found yourself in, but Lucas did make the most of it and usurped Nathan’s position.

Seeing Peyton behind Brooke's back

We mentioned that there was a love triangle going on between Peyton, Lucas, and Brooke, but this wasn’t the clean kind of triangle that would make Lucas look like a good guy. Instead, he began a clandestine relationship with Peyton while he was with Brooke.

This happened because Peyton had initially rejected Lucas when he wanted a serious relationship, only to change her mind when she saw Lucas dating Brooke. Lucas welcomed her invitation and began seeing Peyton behind Brooke’s back. So really, he's not the best good guy, is he?

He kissed Peyton while she was with Jake

There was another love triangle that Lucas was involved in; this one was where he was one of two guys. The other boy was Peyton’s new boyfriend Jake, who was a pretty trusting dude.

This trust of Jake didn’t work in his favor as during a school shooting, Lucas and Peyton had a kiss. Admittedly, the kiss was initiated by Peyton when she thought she was going to pass away after getting shot. Still, it’s not something that stands as a positive thing in Lucas’ record, does it?

The miscommunication that led to his and Peyton breakup

During the missing years, Lucas asked Peyton to marry him, who turned him down. After this, his novel got published and in his happiness, he kissed Brooke, although nothing further happened. Later on, Peyton arrived at a book signing of his to find Lindsey giving him a congratulatory kiss; thinking they were now together, Peyton left. Meanwhile, Lucas thought Peyton didn’t bother to come and started dating Lindsey.

All this could easily have been avoided if these two had just had one long talk where they made everything clear. It got needlessly convoluted.

his relationship with peyton tainted his other relationships

Even though you could justify that these two were meant to be and that’s why they went through so many troubles but still got together, it doesn’t change the fact that their obsession with one another caused a lot of heartbreak.

Had they not been so invested in each other, they could’ve had lasting relationships with Nathan, Brooke, Lindsey, Jake, among others. Their reliance on one another meant that the relationship was toxic to an extent. Who knows? Maybe if the actors hadn’t exited the toxicity might have continued.

He kissed despite proposing to Lyndsey

The Will they/Won’t they aspect of Peyton and Lucas continued as once they met each other after their breakup during the missing years, they were back to their old ways of relying too much on each other.

This time around, Lucas and Peyton kissed again when their feelings were reignited after their previous miscommunication was cleared up. However, Lucas was now with Lindsay and this meant he had been unfaithful to her; making matters worse is that he then went ahead and still proposed to Lindsey! We’re not sure Lucas knows how infidelity works.

Not visiting Dan in the hospital after the latter was shot

Dan was the baddie of One Tree Hill for a majority of the time he was on the show. Looking through his history, you’d sympathize with Lucas, especially considering how many times Dan committed criminal acts.

However, by the end of the show Dan had reformed and in his last appearance, he got hurt while trying to save Nathan. Even with this knowledge, Lucas refused to visit his dad at the hospital. Now that is something that is just stone cold; not visiting your own father at his deathbed really ranks up there.

The fact he didn't return for the series finale

We all thought that Chad Michael Murray was returning to the show for its series finale when it was announced he’d be back in the show’s ninth season. As it turned out, he appeared in the seventh episode instead. In the finale, there was no trace of Lucas onscreen, which is a complete shame because he was the one around whom the show originally revolved.

Then again, remembering the godawful haircut he had in the episode he did show up, maybe his absence was a good thing. Who wanted to see that disaster on his head once more?

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What are your thoughts on Lucas from One Tree Hill? Let us know in the comments!